Magnet fishing may be a mystery term to many but the hobby has been growing rapidly in the UK and the US over recent years.

Best of all you need almost zero technical knowledge to get started as the only equipment you need is a powerful magnet with a loop or eye attached to it, a decent length of strong rope, a pair of gloves and a large bucket to put all the metallic objects you dredge up.

The term ‘fishing’ is something of a misnomer too as no one is out to catch fish and the excitement lies in what type of objects are found from trawling the murky depths of Britain’s waterways, from rusting old shopping trolleys, historic relics and kitchen gadgets to discarded guns.

(Image: Handout)

Last year a seven-year-old Gloucestershire boy was allowed to detonate a WW2 hand grenade under controlled conditions after finding it while magnet fishing in the River Severn with his dad.

And canals are often a favourite place to magnet fish thanks to the huge number of items casually discarded in them over centuries.

(Image: Handout)

So if you’ve got bored of metal detecting and fancy something different, turn up with your equipment, make sure you are not on private property and you throw the line into the water.

The key to successful fishing is to pull the line back in again slowly as pulling it too fast could result in the magnet getting snagged onto something solid and getting lodged.

There’s also the possibility if you pull too fast you can lose your precious treasure if the magnet passes too quickly over the items in the water.